Regarding my community experience, I was a member of Habitat for Humanity of Eastern Connecticut – a non-profit organization that helps communities to build affordable homes. The organization achieves this with the help of partners, financial sponsors, and local volunteers like me. The Habitat for Humanity of Eastern Connecticut falls under the definition of a formal group “with designated work assignments and established tasks” (Robbins & Judge, 2017, p. 315). As for any formal group, there are rules in place that need to be followed. Most of the regulations that are imposed for volunteers consider safety. For instance, build sites only accept sixteen and older volunteers, while some types of work considered dangerous allow for adults only. Moreover, there are specific training courses that are to be taken before starting volunteer work for the organization. Obviously, since the beginning of the pandemic, various rules have been imposed to prevent the spread of the infection. Finally, the rules consider the proper registration of volunteers and require certain levels of commitment to the process.
Regarding informal norms, or else “acceptable standards of behavior” (Robbins & Judge, 2017, p. 322), it was not as easy to track and understand them due to the fluid nature of the volunteer workforce. However, some norms were especially noticeable, and most tried to follow them to the best of their abilities. Firstly, cooperation and mutual assistance were very welcome and encouraged within the group, well beyond what formal rules were established. Secondly, as Habitat for Humanity of Eastern Connecticut uses volunteers’ help, it cannot impose the same rules on discipline and commitment as commercial organizations can for their hired employees. These are partially replaced by group norms, as volunteers are expected to be consistent with their effort, as the organization cannot operate effectively in the situation of constant replacement of people. Therefore, some level of peer pressure can be felt regarding personal discipline and commitment. Overall, it is impossible to say that one set had greater influence in all aspects than the other as they had their distinctive functions. Formal rules were mainly introduced to ensure safety, while informal norms helped the organization with discipline and commitment. Therefore, each set played its own vital role in the organization’s functioning.
References
Robbins, S., & Judge, T.A. (2017). Organizational behavior (17th ed.). Pearson Education.